L'Oreal confident of Genesis effect

Sales of L'Oreal's consumer products under three brands - Paris, Garnier and Maybelline - are expanding some five times faster than the market's 7percent pace, Jon Arnold, general manager of consumer products, said yesterday.

That shows that the beauty market is not much influenced by the political situation, he said, attributing the continued growth to increasingly sophisticated consumers of both sexes.

These factors were behind the eightmonth growth of the skin care market at 8 per cent, the specific care market, namely eye care, at 20 per cent, the night care market at 45 per cent, and men's skincare at 26 per cent, he said.

Derma Genesis is L'Oreal's most important launch of the year, he said.

"In Europe and America alone, L'Oreal Derma Genesis recorded 12 million units sold. This range has Hollywood superstar Penelope Cruz as its presenter. She's the face of worldwide appeal. All in all, the budget we put behind this launch is three times higher than other normal launches," he said.

Derma Genesis targets women aged 28 and above who are interested in preventing the first signs of ageing with the best technology.

The line consists of six products - a facial foam, day cream, day cream with sunscreen, night cream, eye cream and concentrated essence - priced from Bt190 to Bt590.

"We've got very good feedback from trade partners and con¬sumers. L'Oreal Derma Genesis has become a star product at many of our points of sale. In Tops supermarket, for example, the range has gained us an additional 3.2 percentage points of market share in only one month," he added.